Buonaguro gets endorsement from former boss

Assistant coach Mitch Buonaguro, among the candidates in Siena’s search for a head coach, has picked up an endorsement.

When asked for a recommendation by athletic director John D’Argenio, outgoing coach Fran McCaffery pointed to the 56-year-old Buonaguro, who served as his top assistant before he left for Iowa.

“To be the head coach at Siena you have to be active in the community, an excellent coach technically, a great recruiter, have quality relationships with the players and contacts in the coaching community,” McCaffery said in a brief phone interview Sunday.

“Mitch has those things.”

Buonaguro was among those interviewed by D’Argenio and Siena’s school president, the Rev. Kevin Mullen, this weekend at the Final Four in Indianapolis. He now has interviewed twice.

Northeastern coach Bill Coen and Jacksonville coach Cliff Warren are two other candidates, sources have said, although it is believed D’Argenio spoke to others as well.

Buonaguro, who also received an endorsement from the players, is getting some grassroots support from fans, too. A Facebook page touting his candidacy had more than 240 fans Sunday night.

If Buonaguro isn’t Siena’s next head coach, he will have a job at Iowa, McCaffery said. McCaffery has not finalized his staff yet, but he is also moving toward hiring Siena assistant coach Andrew Francis.

McCaffery said he was invited to attend Siena’s annual banquet later this month. He hopes to be there, if his schedule allows it.

Coach Francis may be even more critical than Coach B to Siena’s success over next 2-3 years. HE is the one over the last couple of years that has taught Siena’s 3,4,&5 men how to neutralize, if not te, bigger, quicker, stronger front lines – to say nothing of teaching less recruited big men how to make the transition from h.s. to Div 1. As much as Ryan likes Coach B, ask HIM who has taught him the most about playing in the trenches.

Fran’s endorsement doesn’t mean anything as he would have been expected to be loyal. Have to trust D’Argenio’s intuition on this. If he has misgivings, from his experience with him, about Mitch’s ability to be the head guy for whatever reason he will go elsewhere so if he selects Mitch I will be sure it is the right choice.

i doubt he shows. he’s not gonna wanna be there after he steals melsahn basabe from siena and takes him to iowa. if he does that, which is what it’s starting to look like, all goodwill towards him will be gone.

i predict that fran will not be at the lehigh, er, siena banquet in may.

Wow!? You guys are sure forgiving. But then again I bet neither of you ever had a word slip while you were talking. He was probably thinking about his career (which started at Lehigh) and that word came out instead of Siena. I bet that’s NEVER happened to you. Lighten up! He’s been a great spokesman for Siena. Now he’s working hard at Iowa. Show everyone the class that Siena fans are known for not bitterness because he made a move for the good of his family and had a wordslip during a presser.

Just remember, Darge hired Bob Beyer and Rob Lanier on his own. When he went to committee, we got Hewitt. My gut tells me Cliff Warren gets this job. I’m sure a concern at the Administration, although no-one will admit it, is the perception of age discrimination towards Mitch if he’s denied. But it’s an issue. Warren is a hot commodity and he wants the job.

99.pete and michael shea and any other coen supporters; please; do not discount what mitch has helped accomplish along the way, and what he could bring to this program as the new head coach.

remember, in six years at fairfield, he won the maac twice; two years in a row; when in the seond year year; much like at siena; everybody was gunning for them. that should not be overlooked so easily. i don’t think that is something that coen or warren has accomplished yet. that never happened before or after at fairfield; and that includes since they had the second nicest and very beautiful
“arena” in the conference built. that is quite an accomplishment in itself regardles of whether it was with his recruits or with the coach who preceeded him. it obviously shows and this was years ago, that he could be a good game coach and have kids prepared and able to come together as a team out on the floor. the bottom line is that once you have lost at the mid major level as he then did, just like lanier and beyer at siena, your “opportunities” to be a head coach again, become very limited.

worried about his recruiting talents then? all i can say is that more time and more experience and coaching under successful guys like coach mccaffery will not only help with recruiting but also game time coaching and practice coaching as well.

if mitch were not involved in the siena recruiting or coaching process the past five years with fran, by no means would he be getting 100% endorsements on both the recruiting level(by the current signed recruits who said they would love to play for him) and the coaching level(by the current roster who said they would love to play for him).

if you are still worried about his age or other capabilities to “initially” first impression wise connect with highly touted recruits on the recruiting trail in a very competitive environment to attract players to your program vs. another; as now being the lead guy rather than the secondary guy, then as i have said all along, put your “revolving door” “big money” into the asst head coach spot.

pay a guy to be the highest paid by far asst in the maac and what is considered to be closer to being comparitive money to power conference schools for asst coaches. get a guy who is a young guy who is an ex player on the d-1 level; a guy who is sharp and known to be a master recruiter who can connect with the kids of today; and is obviously on the path to being a head coach in the next three to five years. use his current talents as a recruiter to keep the higher level of athletes in the funnel for coming to siena while he uses this time to get his needed experience in seeing overall how a program is run; from the x’s and o’s perspective; to game time situations perspective; to running a practice perspective; and to the handling of the media and alumni and fan base perspective. once the asst leaves in three to five years as we knew he would, then you go out and get the next big young stud to replace him and let this kid do the same exact thing.

if it works, on and on we go with the revolving door being at this position and not the head coaching position.

when mitch leaves in 10-15 years, after going through 5-6 top asst head coaches in that time span (and who are now successful head coaches), as now a “retired” coach and the all time winningest coach ever at siena and the first coach to ever get them to the final four, we go out and get another mature coach who sees siena as a final destination job and not a stepping stone destination job.

hmmmm? kind of sounds like the philosophy of some successful big time basketball and football where you say; that successful head coach was a descendant of that great head coach(i.e-bill walsh and all the asst’s under him that went on to become great head coaches in their own right).

this should be the ingredients siena is looking for to building a program to “continued” success and “growth” rather than going out and hiring younger guys to be the head coach who we 100% know from the day they are hired that are going to use siena as a stepping stone if they are successful.

we should do this at least for this one specific coaching change in the history of the program to see if this philosophy would work while we have the one real first chance in the program’s history to actually check it out and hire from within. we finally have an opportunity where we have a very qualified asst head coach with successful past head coaching experience(in the maac no less) and who is interested in this job. he is also interested in staying at this job probably until the end of his career. he is also a coach who will continue to provide an uptempo entertaining style of play. he is a coach who has all the players and recruits in his corner. he is by all accounts a nice guy and a good guy who knows his basketball as good as anyonme. he is a coach who is known as a tireless worker. he is a coach who is known as a master scouting game preparation coach in terms of watching video and knowing team and individual tendancies.

it is so so much a no brainer!

we would be absolutely foolish not to hire mitch and it should have happened with 100% conviction last monday or tuesday instead of going through another week of leaving the program up in the air and giving both current and future players an opportunity to re-think and re-consider their options and opportunities outside the walls of siena.

every day; every hour; we go without having mitch announced as the new head coach of the siena basketball program, we are playing with fire for possibly losing players. as good a coach you, i , or anyone can be, all coaches agree including coach hewitt last week on big board radio, it still boils down to players in the end. if you lose quality players or never get them in the first place, you lose a program. and one thing we certaintly know with 100% certainty on this; we are not gaining a single player during this time period.

in terms of players, as seniors, we know rossiter and cj are obviously not going to leave regardless of who the next hire is. these two players will do very well to act as the bridge from past success to future success. they will be the foundation for current success next year. but after that the next big player on the roster who is also on the bridge right now but just coming up to the pinnacle of that bridge as new leader is a kid with very very high expectations this year and for the following two years after that is od.

you have to remember his endorsement is for mitch as well. he is only an upcoming sophmore. he came to siena as a high recruit who could have played for higher conferences in the first place. he has a tremoundous amount of upside to having the capabilities of being successful at not only the maac level but other higher levels as well. as he gets older and stronger, he is the type of player who with his size and wing span and jumping ability, will be able to compete athletically and physically with power conference big men on both sides of the floor.

but right now he is also young enough in his career where if he does not like the choice of the incoming coach, we may find that unfortunately for us, it may be worth it personally for him to sit out a year as a transfer to a higher conference and finish up with his three years of remaining eligibility in a uniform without the name of siena on the front of it. he would be a huge, huge, huge loss and without a doubt, along with losing the signed recruits, a program changer to the negative for sure.

if you don’t hire mitch, you may not only lose the two signed recruits and the poole kid the following year, you may also lose od and now you are talking about a program really in transistion that more likely than not, will probably return to the middle of the maac pack for at least the next 3-5 years until we again get a new coach.

are you really willing to take a gamble on an outsider coming in like warren and coen or anybody else and change things up to their own different and yet unknown “overall” styles of how they run a program and risk losing these players and recruits and let this happen to the program?

i know i for one am not and that is why i am so adament about being on the hire mitch bandwagon. the program has gotten to such heights under mccaffery as a multiple year in a row top20-50 program that at this point in time, there is no room for higher levels of “short term” risk where you are looking primarily for long term success. if you have a another beyer or lanier setback, i think the program will lose fans and positive momentum of the program for good and will not recover; especially if a program like suny albany ever starts growing again.

not that mitch could not fail as well but i really think in the short term, he truly gives the program the absolute best opportunity for a seemless and successful transition from the mccaffery era to the next era.

and if on the other hand mitch win’s? huge, huge upside for not only the short term but also the long term as well.

we have tryed the other way and our history tells us if we continue this stepping stone path, we will always be an up and down program at the very best with 3-5 year trends. history also tells us that if we continue this path now with a new stepping stone choice, the next up and coming new hire will probably be on the next 3-5 yr. downward path.

right now today, there is no other choice but to to take the safest comfort choice that we all know what we will be getting right now today and not worrying about 3-5 years down the road. make the choice that gives you the absolute best chance for keeping the program in tact right now today for the short term so that you have the absolute best chance for success in not only keeping current players and signed recruits in tact but also keeping the style of play as up tempo and keeping the wins coming in bunches this very next year.

with two all maac players and poy candidates coming back as seniors along with probably the biggest sized team in the maac on the current roster and two highly touted recruits coming in, keeping the same of style of play and wins coming in bunches next year is the absolute best way to recover from the departing of the fran mccaffery era. by hiring mitch it gives us the absolute best chance to be sitting here next year looking back at another 20(+) win season that includes another invitation to the big dance. go saints! hire mitch! today!

Mitch’s energy level should be of zero concern to all of you. He is still every bit as competitive as when he was _______ – you fill in the blank with the age you see as acceptable. Danio – we is all inclusive so don’t use it in the context that you did. Many of us disagree with you completely.

in my opinion, as much as Fran should go to the banquet and be there to honor the 5 seniors (don’t forget Magee and Smith) I would really hate for his presence to take away from respecting, thanking and remembering Moore, Ubiles, Franklin, Magee and Smith for all they contributed this year. The rest of the team deserves just as much credit for another amazing run, we cannot count them out yet.

@4 Your post is totally wrong! Can’t say it any kinder. Not taking anything away from Coach Francis but Coach Chaskin is the one who works day in and day out with the “bigs” during the shooting segment at practice. He would also correct the “bigs” during 5 on 5 segments as to their defensive and offensive moves depending on what the next team was likely to put up against us (elements of the scouting report). The “bigs” work with him on footwork, spin moves, and defense. You name it and the “bigs” get it from Adam. Coach Francis worked more with Eddy and Clarence during most of the plays and 5 on 5 drills, etc. If Coach Chaskin was not at practice, Coach Francis would fill in with the “bigs” but that happened few times as I recall. Don’t assume that because Coach Francis is a big man that he was by size definition Siena’s big man coach. That assumption is dead wrong.

Completely off the wall, but Norm Roberts should be considered on the basis of integrity alone. SJU had to fire him–the alumni were latching their checkbooks closed–but Roberts did the housecleaning necessary to restore integrity. The fact that he’s not a cheater cost him his job. Siena seems clean as a whistle to me–while Coach B deserves the chance, Roberts deserves some recognition for the level of class he brought to the faltering Red Storm nation.